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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Pastor Bob Coy started a new book study through the Old Testament book of Habakkuk (starts on page 785 according to my Bible’s table of contents). The first installment is called “Where’s God.”

The Bible study this morning totally hit home when Pastor Bob talked about going through a trial that seems to have no end. He even talked about being the parents of a handicapped child.

It’s very true that a trial can seem to have no end. But we’ve learned, as Pastor Bob taught today, that God is present even when we’re questioning His very existence. In fact, He even answers. The message this morning was affirming and encouraging and I’m looking forward to where the study takes us. Why don’t you listen in…

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Author: James MacDonald Chicago, Moody, 2011 Number of pages: 148

"I was a man gasping and going under for the third time and these promises became my lifeline,"

writes renowned preacher and author, James MacDonald in his latest book, Always True; God's 5 Promises When Life is Hard. "By them I was pulled to safety..." Getting through certain seasons life serves up can be a crushing experience. MacDonald reminds readers of five promises God makes to His children over and over throughout scripture. God is there to sustain His people even in the worst of times.

God makes promises. Because this is true and because there is a historical record of that, the study of God's promises is also a study in theology. For that reason, MacDonald breaks his books up into five major sections all with titles that begin with "Theology of a Promise."

Theology of a Promise: God is a Promiser by nature. Promise #1: God is Always With Me (I Will Not Fear)

Theology of a Promise: God keeps His promises. Promise #2: God is Always in Control (I Will Not Doubt)

Theology of a Promise: God wants us to test His promises. Promise #3: God is Always Good (I Will Not Despair)

Theology of a Promise: God's promises are activated by faith. Promise #4: God is Always Watching (I Will Not Falter)

Theology of a Promise: God's promises are experienced in Jesus Christ. Promise #4: God is Always Victorious (I Will Not Fail)

The above breakdown is simple and that's how the book reads. Those who are familiar with the radio ministry of James MacDonald will hear his voice as they read the words written in the book. He communicates simply, smartly, and packs a ton of truth into a very small, tote-able package. This is truth you can take with you.

My personal favorite is Promise #3: God is Always Good. I've trudged through my own crucible and that is the one truth that has sustained me. When I can't understand anything else, I understand that God is wise and God is good. He's good all the time. MacDonald quotes Nahum 1:7, "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him." We are able to take refuge in the character of God. This is a truth we need to draw strength from in times of trouble. And when times are good, we need to praise Him for the same reason because even though seasons and circumstances change, this truth doesn't.

Throughout the book, MacDonald draws on the deep well of God's Word for the repeated promises and then he demonstrates with his own experiences how the promises play out in the real world. He's candid, transparent, and accessible as he writes about his weaknesses, trials, and about coming out whole on the other side. He does this without making himself the hero of his book which is extremely refreshing.

This book is written for a regular audience. It's not written for a masters level seminarian. It's for the guy or girl working and living and being a Christian on planet earth. Pick up a copy of this book and put your heart into the three hours it takes to read the book whole book from cover to cover. It will be time well spent.

Monday, March 14, 2011

This is an email I received from friends that are missionaries in Japan...*******************************Dear friends and family,Your love and support and prayers have been sustaining us. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. This note is two fold; first, is a personal note from us and second is a note from a fellow missionary which details the way you can help financially. Please read and we will try to post on a more regular basis. Right now the best access for us is through social media and we are updating on Facebook throughout the day. If you would like to receive more details and updates, please go on that site and feel free to "friend us." Thank you for understanding that it is taking a long time to get communication going to everyone.

PART 1Dear friends,The rolling blackouts are suppose to start today. The schools just called to cancel school in our town. Cali is also not able to go to school since the trains are on limited use. Limiting the trains should help the power/energy by a whole lot.

In a little while, we need to go to the store to try and find milk and bread and eggs. Supplies are flying off the shelves. We also need to go the bank and try to get cash. We have a daily withdrawal limited from our American banks of $500 which is not much with the exchange rate into yen. We are also needing gasoline fuel and we need to make sure we have kerosene for the heaters.

Throughout all this, I saw a note that a fellow missionary sent to me that has brought comfort. We are reminded at this time of whom we serve, of whom we worship and we want to be bold, efficient, effective believers who are seeking to live out the Presence of a very real Living God in the midst of this national tragedy.

On Sunday, we had a full day of worship at both locations and it was a sweet time of fellowship, worship, and prayer. Jeremiah shared out of Psalm 46 and encouraged us to "be still and know He is God." We then turned to a more focused time in prayer and ended the services that way. Both our church buildings sustained quite a bit of structural damages and we will wait to get the assessment done sometime soon. It is a fantastic reminder that we truly are the body of Christ and it is not the building that is called the church.

On Sunday Geigy was also able to join the evangelical ministry meeting for disaster relief called CRASH. The Part 2 of this note will give you CRASH information. In a room, along with nearly 50 other believers, we began organizing and mobilizing in order to bring home to the relief stage of this crisis.

Things you can pray for:

1. Peace of mind as people go about their daily lives that have been drastically changed. 2. Wisdom and guidance for the government officials and rescue workers. We are told in our bibles to pray for our leaders. Please do so, they are in so much need of godly widsom.3. For believers to have God appointed opportunities to share with people they know in their communities.4. Personally for our family: please pray that we will be united in prayer, and that our situation will cause us to run to the Lord. Financially, gas prices are sky rocketing and as of Monday morning, Jeremiah tried going all over town to look for gas and did not find any. We continue to trust the Lord in all things.

What you can do for us:

1. Raise awareness and funds for the recovery and relief efforts here in Japan.2. Keep checking on us even if we cannot personally get back to you. 3. Organize prayer teams and groups to pray and fast for us and our nation, the rescue efforts and the relief teams that need to go in and assist after the rescue phase.

PART 2 - 'HOW CAN I ASSIST?"This is a concise note written by our fellow missionary, Ryan Beneke, I'll go ahead and post his note in the interest of time and since it is already so well written. Ryan-san domo.

I wanted to write you one last time to share how you can give toward relief efforts in Japan. After much prayer and research, I settled on CRASH (Christian Relief, Assistance, Support and Hope), who will be working with local churches and other Christian organizations like Samaritan’s Purse to minister to earthquake and tsunami victims. I know some of the people involved in these relief efforts personally, and I trust them.· · Dale Little, president of the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Association (of which Japan CCC is a member), says,“CRASH is the second-to-none relief network in Japan. It is not only endorsed by JEMA; many JEMA missionaries volunteer with CRASH. No other agency is able to assess the needs on the ground like CRASH, and then take steps toward meeting those needs in the name of Jesus. The effectiveness of CRASH includes linking closely with local churches in Japan. Let's pray for Japan, and then act alongside CRASH.”You can make a tax-deductible donation of $10 or more online through the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (JEMS): http://www.razoo.com/story/Help-4-Japan-Donate-Now. You can also get up-to-the-minute information on CRASH’s relief efforts via their group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_109898789089909. Please remember the CRASH teams and those they will be serving in your prayers today.

Personal note: Jeremiah will be headed to the CRASH command center on Wed. morning to help volunteer. Please pray for the volunteers and the leadership of this very needed ministry.

Also - a church member who owns a home in the area have not been able to communicate with anyone in that town. They have also lost contact with two churches that they were involved in with their music ministry. We will update you and let us know as soon as we find out.

Lastly, people are asking about sending in physical donations like clothing and blankets and food. At this time, any additional goods will add the already stretched limits of many organizations. Right now the best way to help is via financial contributions. Please contact us if you have any questions. If you are interested in making a donation to our family, you can do so and we are thankful.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

How do you reach the most isolated people in the most remote places on the planet with the Good News of Jesus Christ? Sanford, Florida based New Tribes Mission (NTM) identifies new tribes around the world and makes it their mission to reach them with the gospel.

NTM is one of the largest missionary organizations in the world with 3,300 missionaries deployed around the globe. The name New Tribes Mission was chosen in 1942 by Paul Flemming, the organization’s founder. Flemming had been a missionary and noticed that tremendous effort was put into getting the gospel to people living in heavily populated cities, but there was a lack of focus on reaching those living in outlying areas; generations of people living their entire lives without ever hearing the Name of Jesus.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

What would you change with God's help?

Gary and Grace Streich know. Gary has been a faithful volunteer in Calvary’s Benevolence Ministry for several years. Grace's heart broke when she read online newspaper reports from her hometown of La Paz, Bolivia. Children live in prisons with their convicted parents. If a parent is sentenced to prison and there is no one for the child to live with, the child goes to prison with the parent. The only other option is the street.

"My heart pains for these children," Grace said. "These children are exposed to violence and drugs in the jails. I began to pray about how the Lord might use me to reach these children and change the government's policy."

For two years health issues prevented them from making the trip. A tumor was found in Gary’s lung the day after Thanksgiving 2009. He has stage four lung cancer. But they continued to pray for a door for hands-on ministry to open up.

In September 2010, finances to cover the costs of a trip appeared.

When other complications threatened to sideline Gary, he determined to push ahead. They booked tickets for a December flight and trusted the Lord to open doors for a Christmas Outreach to the prison's youngest residents.

The Streichs tried to plan things over the phone from Florida but hit a dead end with every attempt. So when they got to La Paz, they simply went to the prison and asked for whoever was in charge.

"We serve an awesome God!" said Grace. "We had no obstacles meeting them and we got an immediate approval to do an outreach event on Friday, the 24th of December for all the children at San Pedro Prison."

They were in for a surprise, though. They expected 150 kids based on newspaper reports. But because schools were on break, visiting children caused numbers to swell to around 450.

A prison social worker suggested they serve the children "Chocolatada" (hot chocolate with cookies). That meant they needed 100 bags of sugar, a commodity under tight government control. People line up at distribution centers before sunrise for a small ration of sugar. When Grace arrived at the distribution center, it was late in the day and the line filled with empty-handed people was still very long. Grace went to the front of the line and told the man in charge her plan. He was moved with compassion and made arrangements to give her all the sugar she needed after the center was closed for the day.

On Christmas Eve, 410 children at the San Pedro Jail received hot chocolate, cookies, gift boxes and a message about the greatest Gift ever given. 40 boxes were left over and distributed to homeless children in the streets. In addition to those ministered to in the prison there were four salvations including Grace's family members who helped with the outreach. Gary and Grace are numbered among the army of faithful volunteers at Calvary Chapel who serve in quiet corners impacting eternity.

Prayer Point: Pray for more Spirit-guided opportunities to minister to these prison children.